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DIY Rocket Racoon Gift Bag & Organizing Bin

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #OwnTheGalaxy #CollectiveBias

I’ve shared with you quite a few times that my family is into comic books and superheroes. While I’ve been aware of this fact for many years, it was really driven home this week when I discovered a wristband from ComicCon (3 months ago) in the console of our car (somebody didn’t see a ComicCon wristband as trash, but saw it as a keepsake). My family lo-ooves to go see superhero movies together. That’s really saying something since I have 2 teen daughters and a tween son and they prefer to see the movies together as a family. I treasure that they still get just as excited for family movie night when it involves seeing a superhero movie as they did when they were little kids. My oldest wasn’t able to see Guardians of the Galaxy with the rest of the family in the theater. So to celebrate her return from college this month, I’ve created a DIY Rocket Raccoon gift bag for our next family movie night (because if you’re as big of a superhero fan as we are, you know that The Guardians of the Galaxy DVD is released tomorrow, December 9th!).
When my daughter left for college, I knew I’d miss my daughter, but I hadn’t thought about how much my other 2 children would miss her. They miss her lots and lots and often want to talk about things we all did together when her last year. To celebrate my daughter’s homecoming next week, I want to surprise my family with a celebratory family movie night watching the Guardians of the Galaxy on DVD. I know that they’ll be thrilled to watch it all together as a family. Aaa-nd because I can’t just turn on a movie, I have to make it an event, I popped over to Walmart to see what else I could find for my movie night welcome home celebration. I found this display in the aisle near the toys, but also found more Guardians of the Galaxy action figures on one of the toy aisles.

I picked up a several action figures because… well… because they’re superhero action figures and how fun is that?! I decided to make a gift bag for the action figures and the DVD to make the family movie night surprise just a bit more fun. And I have an ulterior mom use for the gift bag later.

I picked up some felt to make a Rocket Racoon gift bag. I didn’t have to think too long about which character I wanted to make. Of course, it had to be Rocket Racoon because he’s just too funny. I drew an easy pattern for Rocket Raccoon (I promise it’s easy, so don’t be afraid to download your own copy to make).

I stacked the action figure boxes to carefully measure the size of the gift bag. I simply cut around the edge of the largest box and then cut 2 pieces that size. I eyeball-measured the depth of the boxes to make the side piece for the bag. I find it easiest to make one long continuous piece that ends up being both sides and the bottom of the bag, rather than cutting 3 separate pieces.

Sew one front/back piece to the long strip. Then sew the other front/back piece to the strip. Leave the seams on the outside of the bag to give it a bit more stability so the bag will stand up better.

Cut the pieces of Rocket Racoon out of felt. (I made a mistake on the neck of his orange vest. The entire curved neck piece should be black. So if you want to go for authenticity, cut the entire curved piece out of black felt.) I hand-sewed the pieces together while watching TV one evening (a superhero TV show, of course). You could use fabric glue if you’d prefer to attach the pieces. I also cut a second slightly larger nose piece to give the nose more dimension.

The surprise is almost all ready for my family. I just need to add the DVD when it’s realeased tomorrow. My entire family will have a fun family movie night celebration and everything we need is right here in the Rocket Racoon gift bag.

Remember my ulterior mom motive? After movie night, my son can use the bag as an organizing bin for his bazillion many action figures (this organizing mama tries everything she can think of to encourage the kiddos to organize and straighten up their rooms!).

Who do you know that would enjoy a DIY Rocket Raccoon gift bag (or needs a Rocket Raccoon organizing bin)? I’ll see you at Walmart tomorrow to pick up our copies of the Guardians of the Galaxy DVD with exclusive Character O-sleeve, exclusive music zinepack, a 64-page magazine with cast and crew interviews, exclusive behind-the-scenes photos and trivia PLUS a custom “cassette” laptop decal. If you purchase a Groot, Drax or Rocket Raccoon figure for Disney Infinity 2.0 (from December 7 – 13, 2014) you’ll receive a $5 Walmart gift card (the cashier should be prompted during checkout to give you the gift card).

I don’t have young ones at home, so I have never heard of the Guardians of the Galaxy before. Sound like a fun family movie though. I do love the raccoon gift bag and can see it having many uses! I decorate my sun room with a forest theme and can see this little bag being a part of it. I love working with felt too – inexpensive and fun to use!

I think my son needs about 27 of these for all the action figures he owns. On a side note, I remember missing my older sister so bad when she went to college. I cried for days…and then I was happy to have more space in my bedroom. 😉 #client